VEF Announces Appointment of Senior Program Officer

Washington D.C.

June 30, 2004--VEF announces the appointment of Dr. Lynne A. McNamara as Senior Program Officer, based in the VEF headquarters in Washington, D.C. The appointment of Dr. McNamara to the VEF leadership was the result of a national competitive search.

Dedicated to international education for over 30 years, Dr. Lynne McNamara has lived and worked in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the United States. Her career spans the spectrum of international education, including the development and administration of programs in the U.S. and overseas for both international and American citizens. Her faculty positions have included teacher training as well as teaching foreign language to Americans, English to non-native speakers, multi-cultural skills, writing and poetry.

Most recently, Dr. McNamara served as Director of International Programs for University of Maryland University College (UMUC). From 1989 to 1999, Dr. McNamara directed programs of Temple University and Arizona State University in Japan. Previously, she had managed a USAID-funded English Teacher Training Program in Egypt.

"We are fortunate to have Dr. McNamara join our leadership team. She brings a wealth of experience and high energy to our program." said Kien Pham, VEF Executive Director.

The Vietnam Education Foundation is an independent U.S. Federal Agency created to strengthen the scientific, engineering, medical, and technology communities of Vietnam through educational exchange and scientific and technical cooperation. While enhancing the relationship between the U.S. and Vietnam, the varied projects of VEF are intended to enable Vietnam to gain from, and contribute to, scientific and technological advances globally. As of this fall, 105 VEF Fellows will be pursuing graduate degrees, primarily PhDs, in 35 fields at 38 leading U.S. universities.

VEF is governed by a Board of Directors whose members include the U.S. Secretaries of State, Treasury, and Education; two U.S. Senators (currently John Kerry and Chuck Hagel), two U.S. representatives (currently George Miller and Chris Smith), and six presidential appointees (Herbert Allison, Chairman and CEO, TIAA-CREF; Frank Jao, President and CEO, Bridgecreek Development Company; Dr. Marilyn Pattillo, Professor of Clinical Nursing, University of Texas; Dr. Robert Bryant, Professor of Mathematics, Duke University; Dr. Charles Nguyen, Dean of School of Engineering, Catholic University of America; and Professor Van Toi Vo, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Tufts University).